ICE leadership shakeup exposes growing DHS friction over deportation tactics, priorities
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is overseeing a massive shake-up of ICE — with several top leaders removed and replaced with new heads from Customs and Border Protection following a reported rift in the agency over how to undertake President Trump’s deportation push.
The directors of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) offices in Los Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix, Denver, Portland, Philadelphia, El Paso and New Orleans were ousted, according to four DHS officials who spoke with FOX News.
On one side are Border Czar Tom Homan and ICE Director Todd Lyons, who have advocated focusing on criminal aliens and those with final deportation orders — the so-called “worst of the worst,” Fox reported.
On the other side are Noem, her?de facto chief of staff Corey Lewandowski?and Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino, who have pushed for a broader and more aggressive approach, targeting anyone in the US illegally to boost deportation numbers.
The mood inside DHS is “tense” and “combative,” two senior officials told FOX, with some ICE leaders warning the new approach could blur the line between ICE and Border Patrol operations and chip away at the office’s public support.
Fifty-one percent of surveyed Americans support current deportation operations, according to a recent poll by the New York Times and Siena College.
“ICE started off with the worst of the worst, knowing every target they are hitting, but since Border Patrol came to LA in June, we’ve lost our focus, going too hard, too fast, with limited prioritization,” one senior DHS official told Fox. “It’s getting numbers, but at what cost?”
Another senior official put it bluntly, “ICE is arresting criminal aliens. They [Border Patrol] are hitting Home Depots and car washes.”
Border Patrol insiders say they’re just carrying out Trump’s orders.
“What did everyone think mass deportations meant? Only the worst?” one agent told Fox News. “Tom Homan has said it himself — anyone in the US illegally is on the table.”
The internal friction comes as deportation totals remain below targets set by the administration earlier this year.
A DHS official confirmed the personnel changes to Fox, describing them as “performance-based” and designed “to move people around for the best results.”
DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement: “While we have no personnel changes to announce at this time, the Trump administration remains laser focused on delivering results and removing violent criminal illegal aliens from this country.”
